WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The servers hosting the Web sites of the House of Representatives and its members have been overwhelmed with millions of e-mails in the past few days , forcing administrators to implement the `` digital version of a traffic cop '' to handle the overload .

Servers hosting Web sites of the House of Representatives have been flooded with millions of e-mails in recent days .

`` This is unprecedented , '' said Jeff Ventura , communications director for the House 's chief administrator .

The tidal waves of e-mails and page views began after negotiators announced Sunday that a deal had been reached on legislation to enact a $ 700 billion bailout of the country 's financial system .

In making the announcement , legislators said the public could view the agreement at financialservices.house.gov .

`` In a short period of time , lots of Web users were rushing to the digital doorway to get a copy of this thing , '' Ventura told CNN in a phone interview .

As millions of people tried to look at the details of the bailout plan , the House.gov system became overwhelmed and many people saw notices on their computer screens saying `` this page does not appear . '' iReport.com : Do you support a bailout ?

Ventura compared the situation to the `` old days , when you listened to a radio show and the 10th caller got a toaster . Then everyone calls the same 1-800 number at the same time and all you got was a busy signal . ''

`` This was a massive digital busy signal , '' he said .

As more people gained access to the page and details of the bailout proposal were published in the news media , constituents then started to e-mail their representatives , Ventura explained .

`` We know it 's in the millions , '' he said of the number of e-mails that lawmakers in the House have been receiving . `` But we have n't counted yet , because when you 're about to get hit by a tidal wave , you do n't count the drops of water in the wave . ''

After the House failed to pass the proposed deal Monday by a vote of 228-205 , the e-mail volume surged again , Ventura said .

`` Because there were so many e-mails , it was impacting even the presentation of House.gov , '' he explained .

`` This morning , our engineers sounded the alarms ... and we have installed a digital version of a traffic cop . We enacted stopgaps that we planned for last night . We had hoped we did n't have to . ''

The office of the chief administrative officer of the House of Representatives issued a statement Tuesday saying : `` This measure has become temporarily necessary to ensure that congressional Web sites are not completely disabled by the millions of e-mails flowing into the system . Engineers are working diligently to accommodate this enormous traffic flow and we appreciate your patience in this matter . ''

Now , when House.gov or individual members ' sites begin to get overloaded , a message will come up on the computer screen saying , in effect , `` try back later , '' Ventura said .

`` This really tells us that the level of constituent engagement on this issue is extremely high , '' he added .

He said after the failed vote Monday and the initial backlash , the House 's Web site administrators thought there would be a drop in Web traffic -- especially with the Rosh Hashanah holiday .

`` We monitored the situation all night long , and technicians and engineers saw that we were facing the same demand as yesterday , '' Ventura said .

He predicted that traffic on those Web sites `` would start to subside once there 's some guidance on the marketplace and political landscape about what comes next . ''

Ventura said the House.gov Web site experienced a very high number of hits when the 9/11 commission released its final report on the September 11 , 2001 , terror attacks against the United States , but nothing like what the site has seen in the past few days .

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Web sites of the House of Representatives are overwhelmed with e-mails

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Administrators implement the `` digital version of a traffic cop '' to handle the overload

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`` This is unprecedented , '' says a House spokesman

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Overload began Sunday as legislators said bailout agreement was posted online